Recently, I was speaking to a well-regarded executive who one day would like to be a general manager about the possibility that the Marlins job might open.

Essentially the discussion boiled down to this: There are just 30 of these jobs, yet would you abstain from, say, even being considered to run the Marlins’ baseball operations — due to the firing, tempestuous, meddling, low-payroll nature of owner Jeffrey Loria and team president David Samson?

The executive acknowledged the problems and said perhaps there were jobs not worth having. But the official also said, “There is no perfect job. If you wait for the perfect one, you will wait forever.

“They all have warts. They also all have positives. You have to figure out how to accentuate the positives and fix or navigate around the warts.”

That is worthy advice now when there already are five GM openings — the Angels, Brewers, Mariners, Phillies and Red Sox — and the possibility that the Reds, Orioles, Marlins and maybe even the Nationals and others could make changes, too.

The positions are, indeed, precious and the behind-the-scenes maneuvering to get interviews or get friends interviews is as intense as I ever can remember. Here is one man’s rankings of the five current openings from the best to the worst with the pros and cons:

1. Red Sox

PROS: The departure of team president Larry Lucchino removes a powerful, behind-the-scenes operator. Between the majors and the minors, the Red Sox arguably have the most young (inexpensive) talent from which to build around and with which to trade. Fenway is almost always full, the passion for the team in the region is intense and, thus, there is money to spend.

CONS: Dave Dombrowski, recently hired to be the president of baseball operations, is considered a good executive to work under, but ultimately the GM might not have final say on baseball issues. Owners John Henry and Tom Werner are involved — some say, too involved. The fan base can go sour quickly and make this a miserable atmosphere. The bloated contract of Hanley Ramirez must be dealt with, and so, too, might the one for Pablo Sandoval.

The next GM almost certainly is going to have to be the one to tell bad news (at some point) to the most beloved players in Boston — David Ortiz and Dustin Pedroia.

2. Phillies

PROS: The parting gift from outgoing GM Ruben Amaro was a strong July trading season that deepened the farm system. Also just about every long-term contract was cleared off the books. There is money to spend. There is a new ownership dynamic in place, and so far there is belief that it will let the baseball people make the baseball decisions, but this is a wild card.

CONS: Like with Dombrowski in Boston, Andy MacPhail recently was hired to run baseball operations, so the new GM might not have full baseball authority. However, MacPhail’s reputation is to be congenial and let the people he hires do their jobs. Ryan Howard still has $35 million coming to him — albeit with just one more year left on the deal. Though the base of young talent was upgraded, there are real questions if there are many top-of-the-rotation prospects in the system. This is a tough town and how patient will it be with a rebuild?

3. Mariners

PROS: The team owns much of the network, so there is untapped money to spend. The general sense in the industry is that ownership essentially does not meddle. If the Blue Jays make the playoffs, the Mariners will be the team with the longest postseason drought (since 2001), so there is a lot of motivation to win. Seattle is viewed as an asset, a terrific, diverse city that could help make the Mariners a powerhouse if the organization could ever get winning down pat.

Mariners outgoing GM Jack ZduriencikAP

CONS: Despite having a player development guy (Jack Zduriencik) as the outgoing GM, the Mariners are not viewed as having a strong farm system. Quite the contrary, actually. Robinson Cano, Nelson Cruz and Felix Hernandez are signed long term, and a new GM is going to have to decide whether to build around that talented — but expensive and aging — trio or do something that instantly will dismay a bunch of the fan base by trading them as part of a teardown to build up.

4. Angels

PROS: When you start with arguably the best player in the world (Mike Trout) in his prime on a fair, long-term contract, it is quite an asset. There is a history here of large payrolls.

CONS: The owner (Arte Moreno) meddles and the manager (Mike Scioscia) generally has been more powerful than the GM (even in personnel decisions), and that might not change, regardless of who is hired. The farm system is not very good. Albert Pujols’ contract is almost certain to become an albatross over the next few years.

5. Brewers

PROS: The lowest pressure of all the openings, in part because the fan base is supportive, but not rabid. Owner Mark Attanasio has shown an aggressive bent to spend when he thinks his team has a chance to win. Because there is not an immediate likelihood of making the playoffs, this is a job in which the new hire can be creative in finding and growing talent. Whoever takes over is likely to inherit manager Craig Counsell, which is viewed as a positive because he is considered an asset for the job he has done with a bad club in his brief time on the job.

CONS: The Cardinals, Pirates and Cubs are exceptional now and not going anywhere soon. That trio’s infrastructure as far as leadership and young talent promises NL Central success for quite a while, making it difficult for the Brewers and Reds to break through. The farm system was upgraded with a few July trades, but it is not viewed as deep.